Cruz says that drug laws should only be changed by Congress
Republican Senator Ted Cruz has expressed an encouraging array of libertarian positions. Cruz played a prominent role in Rand Paul’s March 2013 filibuster and later said the U.S. should not serve as “Al Qaeda’s air force” by intervening in Syria. On NSA surveillance, Cruz has said “The government has no business conducting overbroad surveillance of ordinary, law-abiding citizens.”
In a recent interview with Reason, however, Cruz expressed some misgivings about ongoing efforts to decriminalize marijuana. Cruz said that, while ending the War on Drugs might be a good idea, it should be done through Congress and not by declining to enforce written law.
Over at Rare, libertarian commentator Jack Hunter has noted the irony.
“In September, Cruz led a filibuster to defund the Affordable Care Act. Both Democrats and Republicans chastised Cruz for this, claiming that Obamacare was the ‘law of the land,’” Hunter pointed out. “Now, Cruz seems to be saying that the federal war on drugs must be enforced because it too, is the law of the land.”
Cruz is right to be concerned that President Obama perceives himself as above the law. Yet the reason executive overreach is dangerous is that it might be used to expand government power, not because it might be used to curtail it. Cruz, who is keenly aware of the illegality of programs like nationwide NSA surveillance, should know better.
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It’s important for libertarians to commend politicians when they come our way. Yet it’s equally important to hold them accountable when they are clearly in the wrong.
The Libertarian Republic recently produced a podcast holding Cruz’s feet to the fire over the issue of amnesty and illegal immigration. Take a listen.
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